hyacinth bulbs Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Daffodils and spring bulbs in bloom…

Almost all of my daffodils are up and putting on a spring show of blooms. Only one late-blooming variety is waiting to open. This one is a Double Campernelle, or Narcissus odorus plenus.
These are the ‘Yellow Fortune’ daffodils – I’ve lost quite a few of them in recent years – I suspect the drought has been hard on them.

I cannot locate the label for these pretties right now – they are packed away in a massive garage clean-out before installation of cabinets next week (cabinets to hide away all my garden *stuff* that seemed to have taken over the garage). These are my first pale yellow daffodils and I must say I like them. They seem almost illuminated on a pretty day.

I think this is Jonquilla ‘Simplex’.

These are the lovely and always prolific “Tete a tete” — a shorter variety — about 8 inches tall and very dense.

My new Muscari ‘Dark Eyes’ are all coming up and filling in nicely, making a pretty, purple textured carpet against the grey of the winter mulch.
Pretty in purple are the hyacinths of unknown variety, courtesy of HEB’s indoor planter two years ago.
This Hellebore is Helleborus x hybridus `Gold Finch’ with beautiful contrast. I just had to have this one since we have so many goldfinches in the wooded garden bed where this is planted.
Another unlabeled Hellebore (also known as a Lenten Rose) — I just love those wispy markings in the center. They are hard to see and photograph, though, because of their growth habit and how they demurely keep their blooms bowed down. It also means I have to lie on the ground and hold up the foliage to try to get a photo.
This is muscari golden fragrance. They are a delicate yellow and have a wonderful scent.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:02-05:00February 24th, 2012|Blog, bulbs, daffodils, double campernelle, Hellebore, hyacinth bulbs, hyacinths, Jonquilla Simplex, Muscari, muscari dark eyes, narcissus, narcissus odorus plenus, Sharing Nature's Garden, tete-a-tete|0 Comments

Spring bulbs are starting to bloom…

Ah…the promise of spring.

When renewal is in the air and the garden begins to awaken from a long winter’s nap. Well, not really this year. It was more like a quick cat nap.

I love it when the early spring bulbs start coming up and making buds. The daffodils, the muscari, the irises … they are are all putting on their finery.

These are the true harbingers of spring.

And they are some of my favorite favorites in the garden. (I really have too many favorites to count.)

I’m especially fond of the daffodils – there are up to 200 different species of them. I just have a handful of the different varieties, but it’s so much fun to see how unique they can be.

Japanese quince is another reliable plant that signals the arrival of spring. I think of it as an nice old historic plant – you often find very large ones in the gardens of older homes in central Austin. I imagine them being lovingly planted decades ago and being cared for by successive families over the years.

Mine is still small, but those delicate salmony-rose blooms are sure to bring a smile to my face every time I pass by.
These sweet little peeks are traditional muscari (grape hyacinths) that came home from the grocery store with me in a mixed bulb pot and then found their way into the garden to bloom another day. And bloom they do. This will be their third year to perk up the mulch on a drab day.
These are very special little specimens — muscari golden fragrance. Unlike most muscari, these are not the tell-tale purple, but rather a soft yellow and they have a wonderful scent. They are very low to the ground – about 5 inches high – so I literally have to get down on the ground to get a whiff of them. But it’s worth it!
Are you enjoying any early season bloomers in your garden yet?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:02-05:00January 27th, 2012|Blog, bulbs, daffodils, hyacinth bulbs, hyacinths, japanese quince, Muscari, quince, scented blooms, Sharing Nature's Garden, spring|0 Comments

A few little garden early birds…

Most of my garden is awash in a sea of browns, grays and deads. Everywhere you look, there are dried limbs, waiting, desperately waiting to be pruned.
But thank goodness for my passion for early spring bloomers. They never fail me. There are daffodils scattered all about … Yellow Fortune, Tete a tete, Dutch Master, Double Campernelle, Jonquil Simplex. These are Dutch Masters above, also known as King Alfred.
And here we have one of the newer Hellebores. I believe that this one is Phoenix, but I’m not sure because the two about to bloom are not tagged, I didn’t keep the receipt, and I didn’t blog their names or record their names in my master notebook.

I hate it when I do that! I do have two that have tags, but they are sad and pathetic and not blog-worthy! That’s how it goes, isn’t it?!
This is the Double Campernelle Daffodil. See how fluffy and full it is?
And right behind it I have this lovely Japanese Quince that blooms and heralds the spring every year.
Not sure which one this is. I keep meaning to take photos of them all and try to pin point which is which, but that’s low on the list of garden-to-dos!
This one I can ID – it’s the Tete-a-tete. They are tiny little Daffs with a nice upright shape and lovely, neat little blooms.
Unknown variety hyacinths from a grocery store bulb planter I was showing off inside the house two years ago — see it here.